Why Research is Personal

When implemented with a lens of fairness and justice, research is a great equalizing force; it is one space where everyone’s truths carry equal weight.

For an individual it can be powerful to know you’re not alone, and for a community data can be a powerful voice for change.

LINNEA EITMANN, PHD, MPH | RESEARCH MANAGER

In the world of public health, research is often thought of as a distant and impersonal part of the work: community outreach workers, health educators, and social workers are out building relationships in the community, and researchers are at their desks crunching numbers. Truth be told, I spend my share of time writing and analyzing data. However, in my experience, research is a deeply personal part of the work we do in public health. As a researcher, I have asked strangers questions that I wouldn’t ask some of my closest friends. Research requires trust and understanding.

One of the things that initially drew me to the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies (IWES) was how central community is to how IWES approaches research. When implemented with a lens of fairness and justice, research is a great equalizing force; it is one space where everyone’s truths carry equal weight. It also creates a space for people to voice their opinions and needs in ways, and to audiences, that they may not otherwise have an opportunity to reach. Accurately representing that voice is the most important part of my job.

My first project with IWES was a collaboration with the Louisiana Public Health Institute to do a statewide survey of parents on their attitudes towards sex education in schools. We included a battery of questions from similar surveys that had been administered in other states: did parents want sex education in schools, what topics did they want covered in sex education programs, and what issues were they most concerned about for their youth? I conducted phone interviews with parents to test an early version of the survey. In each interview, after I completed the survey questions, I asked parents more general questions about what issues related to sex and relationships were coming up with their young people: what did they know as parents that we needed to know as researchers?

I was surprised by how open parents were about their experiences navigating sexual health issues with their children. Concern about young people’s access to technology and social media was almost universal. Even the most conscientious and tech savvy parents felt like they couldn’t fully control what their children saw and sent over their phones and the internet. The survey later found that three out of four parents think access to pornography on computers, tablets and cell phones is a major problem facing Louisiana youth, but parents felt alone in tackling this issue, and expressed shame for not being better able to shield their children. In Louisiana, there can be such a taboo around sex, especially around issues related to young people. In parts of the state, those opposed to sex education have been very vocal to schools and lawmakers. Parents who support sex education in schools can feel like they are in the minority and feel powerless to express their opinions. The findings from our study can lend a voice to parents who may otherwise not speak up, so their perspective can be a part of the conversation about the sex education their children receive.

Our study found that 84% of Louisiana parents think sex education is an important part of school curricula, and 74% think that it should be required. For an individual it can be powerful to know you’re not alone, and for a community data can be a powerful voice for change. For me, this work provides a meaningful connection to my neighbors. After all, what is more personal than holding someone’s secrets, or being responsible for communicating a community’s voice?

Curious about some of the opinions of Louisiana parents about sex ed? Read some quotes from our parent survey below:

I just wish maybe for the future generations to be more educated, when it comes to sex, and that they will be more educated than we are. I feel like sex is not a small issue. I think that sex affects everything in our society...I think it’s all related to sex. Crime, poverty, diseases, it all goes back to sex.

— Parent, Region 1

I think that parents need a script. I honestly think that parents who don’t know how to do it need a script to start the conversation because they don’t even know how to begin...I mean every salesman in the world starts with a script. They don’t sell Electrolux vacuum cleaners and know how to do that. They say say this when you knock on the door and then you have a conversation.

— Parent, Region 8

I was thinking; how do they teach sex in schools? I feel like it is important that they do it, and it is important that we do it as parents, but it’s also important to get information. I feel like we, as parents, also need information. We need to learn, we need to learn more about how to deal with this, how to do it better.

— Parent, Region 1

I do hear everyone talking about it starts with the home but it starts with the home and it starts with the schools. The more we could go and tell them the better it is. If they got to hear it a 150,000 times, then let them hear it a 150,000 times from all different types of people.

— Parent, Region 8

Times are changing for what they [students] have to learn. We [parents] don’t just have to change with the times, we have to understand the new times and see how to structure it...because the times are going to keep changing. We got Google, the Internet now no telling what we going to have. Whoever knew that the Jetsons were, we being Jetsons. So times are going to continue to change. So you have to keep education.

— Parent, Region 3

The survey later found that three out of four parents think access to pornography on computers, tablets and cell phones is a major problem facing Louisiana youth, but parents felt alone in tackling this issue, and expressed shame for not being better able to shield their children.

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